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Tuesday, November 07, 2017 1:00 am

Son given probation in stabbing

Occurred after dad turned off Wi-Fi

JIM CHAPMAN | The Journal Gazette

A man will serve two years' probation for stabbing his father in the neck after he disconnected the Wi-Fi while his son was using the computer.

Richard A. Moore II, 20, told police he was in the middle of a video chat with his girlfriend. He's deaf and was angry because this was the only way he could communicate with her, he told Fort Wayne police.

Moore pleaded guilty Monday in Allen Superior Court to criminal recklessness. Magistrate Samuel Keirns handed Moore a two-year suspended sentence and placed him on probation for two years.

As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a charge of battery by means of a deadly weapon. A jury trial scheduled to begin Wednesday was canceled.

When police arrived at a home in the 600 block of Putnam Street Feb. 27, Richard Moore Sr. was in critical condition with a knife buried in his neck up to the handle, a police report said.

One of the father's relatives told police the father was upstairs arguing with his son about a missed phone call on the computer. Next thing he knew, Moore Sr. was falling down the stairs with a knife stuck in his neck.

When the relative looked up, he saw the son coming down the stairs with a large samurai sword. The relative was able to get the sword away from him. Then, the son came down the stairs with another large knife and an airsoft gun. The relative took those away from the son, too, documents said.

A woman and three young people were inside the home at the time, a police report said.

At the police station, Richard Moore II told police, with the help of a sign language interpreter, he contemplated leaving the house or going to his mother's home to calm down.

He told police that his father had never been physically abusive toward him. He also said, “I am stronger than my father,” court records said.

Moore Sr. underwent emergency surgery to remove the knife from his neck and stabilize his condition.